Expert Belt Rotom-W is a pro set, which blarajan has introduced to me. Choiced Volt Switch seems iffy in tiers with plenty of Ground-types and Electric-immune mons, and being stuck in a -2 Leaf Storm is a momentum killer. That's the major issue I have with choiced Electric-types, despite their amazing revenge-killing capacity.

Specs sounds powerful, but EB is probably more useful despite the drop in power.

Rotom-Mow once surprised me with a last-minute Rain Dance for a Swift Swim boost on his last-mon Omastar; I didn't see it coming since his team didn't scream RAIN DANCE. It was definitely a nice set-up :d

While people would normally use an Expert Belt to bluff the Choice Scarf, this set uses Rest + Chesto Berry instead. Rotom-C has excellent typing, especially since it's a Grass-type as it is one of the best typings in the tier. However, you'll usually find that Choice Scarf Rotom-C cannot switch into something such as Kabutops more than once or twice in a game. With a Chesto Berry + Rest, Rotom-C will be instantly healed of HP and status conditions, allowing it to come back in a few more times throughout the game. Furthermore, Rotom-C is a status magnet; it attracts paralysis because it's fast, burns because it switches into Scalds, and sometimes poison. Rest will instantly cure Rotom-C of those status ailments. It's a pretty good move if you want Rotom-C to stay alive for a while and function as a pivot.

I always liked this guy... Anyway, you all know what to do. Post sets, checks and counters, what it checks and counters, teammates, roles, niches, what have you. As always, best and more creative posters will be getting points, so be sure to sweat the details and think outside the box ^.^

Moderator

Crawdaunt is one of the more underrated Pokemon in RU. As an offensive Water type, many people prefer Kabutops due to its ability to Rapid Spin, but Crawdaunt is one of the hardest hitting sweepers in the tier thanks to Adaptability, which makes up for a relatively small movepool. Dragon Dance remedies Speed while Sub can remedy its poor defenses (well, for a little bit anyway)

All Crawdaunt really needs right here. Although it may only have its STAB moves for attacks, Crawdaunt gets great coverage with them, smashing most walls for neutral damage or better. Sub is able to give Crawdaunt status protection and also shields it from faster threats to cover its lackluster defenses. Dragon Dance is amazing. It's able to remedy a paltry base 55 Speed and turn Crawdaunt into a viable sweeper that's capable of blasting through lots of things. Waterfall and Crunch combine to hit many walls for super effective damage. Uxie, Steelix, Cofagrigus, and Slowking are among the common defensive Pokemon that are unable to withstand Crawdaunt's STAB moves.

As difficult as it is to switch into Crawdaunt, the lobster has just about as hard of a time switching in itself. Common weaknesses to Grass, Electric, Bug, and Fighting really hurt its ability to come in on common RU Pokemon. Dual Screens support from the likes of Uxie and Mesprit can aid Crawdaunt. Both can run Thunder Wave to slow faster threats down as Crawdaunt is still relatively easy to outspeed at +1. Roselia is cool to lay down Spikes and take Grass and Electric moves for Crawdaunt. It completely walls LO Sceptile, a common offensive response to revenge kill +1 Crawdaunt. Bulky Rotom and Cofagrigus are also good options since they take on Bug and Fighting types (and Electric types in Rotom's case) while spreading burns with WoW, making it easier for Crawdaunt to come in on physical attackers.

Countering Crawdaunt is hard once it has set up. Poliwrath is really the only complete counter. It resists both STABs, has Circle Throw to prevent Crawdaunt from boosting more, and can effectively use RestTalk to screw over status users Crawdaunt may be paired with. Tangrowth and Qwilfish are the next best things, though the latter will really only be able to setup Spikes in response. Tangrowth can use Giga Drain to threaten Crawdaunt though, but more offensive Tangrowth will be unable to take Crawdaunt's assaults. Often times, revenge killing it is the best way to deal with Crawdaunt. Most Choice Scarf users will even be able to outrun a +2 Crawdaunt. Think Rotom, Manectric, and Galvantula. Naturally fast Pokemon such as Sceptile can still outspeed a +1 Crawdaunt. Keeping up offensive pressure is another way to prevent Crawdaunt from boosting. As stated already, it has lackluster defenses and common weaknesses, so it will usually only be able to set up on walls or weaker resisted hits unless supported by Dual Screens.

To end this, do not automatically just assume Dragon Dance when Crawdaunt comes in. A Choice Band set is also viable to allow Crawdaunt to become a wallbreaker as opposed to a sweeper. With just Waterfall, Crunch, and Superpower, Crawdaunt can break past many walls in RU with a Choice Band equipped and an Adamant nature.

Choice Scarf makes Crawdaunt's Speed somewhat bearable, but sadly, it can only outspeed max Speed base 105 Speed Pokemon and below. However, this can surprise a Pokemon such as Moltres or Scyther, as they won't expect you to outspeed them, giving Crawdaunt a free KO. With Adaptability, Crawdaunt is still really strong, OHKOing Moltres, Sigilyph, Gallade, and Manectric, the latter two after Stealth Rock. It can also get some surprise kills on Pokemon such as Nidoqueen, Kabutops, and non-Scarf Rotom-C after a bit of prior damage. Waterfall and Crunch do a ton of damage to the plethora of Fire- and Psychic-type Pokemon, respectively. Superpower hits things such as Ferroseed, Omastar, and Kabutops. Lastly, Ice Beam is pretty much a filler move, but it is guaranteed to 2HKO Tangrowth after Stealth Rock. I'd probably only use the Dragon Dance set, but Choice Scarf Crawdaunt can be fun to catch some people off guard =p

Anyways, on the Dragon Dance set, you can run Superpower over Substitute to lure in Ferroseed (+1 Superpower does 65.06 - 76.71%) or Aerial Ace to kill Poliwrath! Not serious about Aerial Ace x)

I don't find Crawdaunt all that threatening. It's just too slow and fragile. It will almost always have its Sub broken (even Slowking's Scald can break its Substitute) and be revenge-killed by Scarfers, CB Entei, or Galvantula and faster non-scarfed mons. I never had a problem with it.

There was a period right where i started playing RU that Crawdaunt was borderline dominating. The slower defensive teams of the metagame had no true Crawdaunt switch ins outside of Tangrowth, who was a decent check at best in my opinion. The only 100% stops to Crawdaunt were the mighty Seed Bomb Ferroseed and Defensive Poliwrath; pretty much everything else was smashed.

I always used Adamant on Crawdaunt because if i could get a Substitute on something like CB Spiritomb or Slowking, I could handily OHKO the Scarf mon that thought it was coming in to easily revenge me. The loss of speed wasn't a huge deal, as most of the time when i was boosting it was more for the Attack boost.

Lately, Crawdaunt has still been good, but certainly not as good as it was. Here is my post on Crawdaunt from early July

hmmmm some things i have noticed from my ru stint so far

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1) crawdaunt is an absolute monster. why dont people use this more? it seems to me like tangrowth usage has fallen a lot, and crawdaunt is here to take full advantage of it. i've been using substitute + dragon dance, and by smart double switching to get in on slowking (works out really well because slowking thinks it can come in on everything because of regenerator) and getting up a sub, as scald wont break it. slowking usually switches out though, and from there you can start to wear down the initial crawdaunt switch in, or just boost up and go. also cool cause it sets up on cb tomb pursuit, so sometimes i let cryogonal die just to get a free chance to dance.

you can run daunt in conjunction with spikes too because absolutely no rapid spinner is going to want to come in on it. sandslash and cryogonal are way too scared. crawdaunt singlehandedly beats stall unless they run bulky restalk poliwrath or seed bomb ferroseed, arguably the only 2 hard counters.

The reason why Crawdaunt isn't as good as it was is the shift of the metagame from balanced defensive to very offensive. There is simply no where that Crawdaunt can set up now. Nidoqueen and Moltres both OHKO it. Kabutops OHKOs it if hits. Sceptile still outspeeds it even with a Dragon Dance under its belt. Uxie commonly runs Thunder Wave. The more common pokemon in the tier simply prevent Crawdaunt from being able to sweep consistently

Ruiner of Alph

Just saying you should not be running SD on a TR sweeper Crawdaunt. Setting up TR and switching in Craw takes 2 turns, and setting up SD after that will take a third, leaving 2 turns to net KOs before Craw is slow as shit again. TR teams need every turn they can get to dish out maximum damage, as it's not easy to keep setting it up, especially in this more offensive metagame. A 4-attack set with either CB or LO will stand a better chance at cleaning up a team. If it's setting up anything, definitely use Substitute. Sub will allow it to scout its switch-in and still pose a threat after TR runs out~

My major team ATM features this guy and to date is one of best physical sweepers in RU because of the amazing typing and access to dragon dance. I agree with august and jelli that right now it is not as amazing as it was when defense ruled the meta but if you can get up 2 dragon dances very little things can stop this guy.

That's the set I use right now, the same as Eon has posted and if it happens to get up +2 the game is over. I often achieve this because I have built my team to not need crawdaunt until late game so that when it's counters such as poliwrath and scarf electric types are gone a +1 DD can win the game for me. I have had great success with crawdaunt and I have tried choice scarf crawdaunt as well actually lol, and I found that it lacked the power to KO until late game: which is not what scarfers are usually meant for as they are supposed to revenge or keep on the pressure. Good teamates for crawdaunt IMO are things like lanturn, uxie, and rotom-c as they can keep on the pressure with volt switch/U-Turn as well as paralyze pokemon that would otherwise stomp on this lobster. Since crawdaunt is weak to to basically anything with priority or something that is faster, it can also work to run pokemon that can outspeed like accelgor or archeops. You will almost always need to run a ghost type on your team to stop pesky fighting types which bane crawdaunt, but most people already know that.

First 3 moves are self-explanitory. Waterfall and Crunch for powerful STABs. Superpower breaks Ferroseed. Ice Beam 2HKOs Tangrowth. Return if you want all physical moves since a 2HKO without a Sub or prediction means you pretty much die to Tangrowth. Life Orb is the better item since you really want to switch moves on a TR team unless your name is Druddigon and you abuse the general lack of Steel types in RU. Too many things can resist Waterfall or Crunch, but few resist both. LO also gives a neat power boost to Ice Beam.

It's nice to see this project is still seeing action as it hits its 10th week :3

Uxie here is a cool little defensive pivot that has quite a few roles and niches in our metagame. Discuss them, along with its best sets, counters, teammates, etc. You guys know how this works, let's get it ^.^

Looks like a reasonably standard bulky Uxie in terms of ability, EVs and such, outspeeding Crawdaunt before it can Substitute. Uxie however makes a terrific lead against many Pokemon and a terrific sun supporter even outside of the lead spot. Sunny Day is as obvious as obvious moves come. It sets up 6 or 7 turns of Sun and paves the way for my sweepers to go to town. The way is does that is through th combinatin of Memento and U-Turn. Memento is a very nifty move I'm sure everyone knows that sacrifices Uxie but brings in a sweeper against a crippled opponent. My typical Memento receive is the dangerous Special Sweeper Victreebel who OHKOs every single Pokemon in the tier after Stealth Rock damage bar Munchlax and Mandibuzz. Should I wish to preserve the life of Uxie or should I wish to bring in one of my Fire-types, U-turn is a handy option (also useful for breaking Whimsicott subs). I typically U-Turn into my Scarfed Emboar who can then threaten the metagame with his STABs and coverage. I also use Typhlosion, who appreciates being brought in by both moves. Magic Coat is a nifty little move that occasionally becomes the crux of the set, especially when leading. When in the lead position, Magic Coat allows me to counter opposing hazards to make it easier for my sweepers to break down walls, as well as completely countering Smeargle forcing it to either Spore itself, or lay hazards for me.

This set can also be used on a Rain team, allowing Pokemon such as Kabutops to set u safely, or alternatively can run Psychic over Sunny Day to simply give Pokemon such as Lilligant or Klinklang a worriless set up opportunity.

Moderator

Uxie, the tier's best check / counter to Nidoqueen and one of my personal favorites. Uxie is the prime example of a versatile Pokemon. It's got great defenses, great support moves, a decent offensive movepool, and enough Speed to even sweep. Although support is the first thing that will cross a player's mind when they see Uxie, sweeping shouldn't be out of the question:

A SubCM set fits Uxie very well as it takes advantage of the pixie's great bulk and status as a solid wall / tank in RU. Uxie finds it easy to setup on many support Pokemon such as Slowking, Tangrowth, Smeargle, and even opposing supportive Uxie. With Sub up, Uxie is free to setup Calm Minds to boost both of its special stats and making its Subs nearly impossible to break on the special side. Psychic and Thunderbolt give Uxie the best overall coverage in RU, leaving it walled by the fewest possible common threats. Note that the Speed EVs allow Uxie to outrun positive natured base 90 Speed Pokemon which most notably includes Moltres. This is major as it allows Uxie to come in, setup a CM, and still survive the 2 Fire Blasts it would take (one switching in and one after CM) with the given HP EVs.

Uxie really wants entry hazards to limit the amount of Calm Minds it needs to successfully sweep. Smeargle, Steelix, Qwilfish, and Accelgor are good hazard users. Steel types are a pain, primarily Steelix as it literally doesn't care about Uxie at all, no matter the set the pixie runs. This one is no different, so strong, bulky special attackers such as Rotom-C and Tangrowth are solid teamates. Fighting types in general help since they can switch in on Pursuit. Gallade, Hitmonlee, and Medicham can all work. They also pummel Steel types. Magneton is a more direct answer to rid the opposing team of Steel types, but it will struggle against Steelix.

Uxie has many other sets it can use thanks to its great stats. A standard support set having SR, Psychic, and some variation of U-turn, Memento, Thunder Wave, Heal Bell, and Yawn is the first that comes to mind as the bulky spread the set typically uses allows Uxie to effortlessly handle Nidoqueen, one of the tier's top special attackers, as well as many other opponents that fail to hit Uxie for super effective damage. Dual Screens is another approach as Uxie's bulk and Speed make it the best user in the tier. It can even setup SR or use Memento alongside Screens.
An anti-lead set with Lum Berry and max Special Attack and Speed can really screw over many common responses to Uxie and allow the pixie to handle the likes of Lilligant and Smeargle with greater ease. Finally, weather support shouldn't be overlooked (Texas already covered that) as Uxie's great bulk and access to Memento make it one of, if not, the best weather setters in the tier.

Offensive Lum Berry can be a thorn in the side of many teams in the RU tier. Despite only having base 75 special attack, Uxie's Psychic still hits decently hard, enough to KO frailer opponents trying to set up on it or wear down a big threat to your team. Even without any defensive investment Uxie is still very very bulky, and your opponent will find the pixie nearly impossible to OHKO (seriously, ive had this live Accelgor Bug Buzzes and Absol Night Slashes >_>). With a combination of this monster bulk and base 95 speed, Uxie will have no trouble setting up Stealth Rock and paralyzing multiple pokemon on the opposing team before it goes down. With max special attack Uxie can also utilize Giga Drain to OHKO Kabutops, and thus protect its Stealth Rock, i prefer Thunder Wave though. Uxie's Lum berry can really come in handy against other leads, it guarentees Smeargle will only get Stealth Rock up at most, as Psychic will 2HKO the painter before it can accomplish much of anything. It also does 40%+ to Aerodactyl, so Uxie isnt a sitting duck against the other common leads (pineco is a meanie :( ). Overall, despite the reduced bulk making a difference in some situations (vs nidoqueen, you will do 80% at most if you switch into Sludge Wave, still good enough for me though). I feel this is one of the best sets Uxie can run in this metagame, and i urge all of you to try it out!

Another set that hasnt been mentioned is the Dual Screens set, Uxie is perhaps the best setter of them in the tier, and shouldnt be overlooked. The set looks a little like this.

This set is an excellent option for all kinds of offensive teams, it can come in on a variety of threats, set a screen or two, possibly get Stealth Rock up, and either Memento to provide your Pokemon with an even easier setup, or use U-turn to keep itself alive to set up screens later in the match. Once again, Uxie's base 95 speed comes in handy here, giving Uxie a chance to set up a screen before the opponent can even hit them, thus giving Uxie more time to set up the second screen! Overall, these are my two favorite uxie sets, and feel free to post your thoughts on them!

Uxie has become more of a mechanic in RU than a Pokemon nowadays: the embodiment of setup. About a week ago, about half the teams I faced had an Uxie on them. It's actually less common now, so POTW should have been quicker, basically.

Also, Nidoqueen is feared too much. I haven't seen it in ages, and have probably only seen it twice. It's like Gothitelle before those UU [expletive deleted]s banned it and ruined our fun... I was practically the only person using it, it was just feared.

On ridiculously offensive teams, like the team that i run, I have a ton of trouble switching into pokemon like Choice Band Escavalier, 2HKOs my entire team with Iron Head after Stealth Rock. Since one of the most common Uxie switch ins is Escavalier, I decided that it'd be cool to run Fire Gem HP Fire to troll Escavalier. It actually worked really well, considering Psychic + HP Fire always KOes, and HP Fire + SR usually KOes. HP Fire also smashes switch ins like Scyther, and can smack around Grass-types harder than Psychic can for atleast 1 hit. You can even troll Steelix if you want to!!

But yeah, Uxie is actually pretty versatile. Trick Scarf anti leads are pretty cool and work well. Theyre also super annoying if used well (double01 >___>). Uxie can also run a Sub CM set pretty effectively, but I haven't seen it used much lately which is a shame, considering Uxie can smash the most common hazer with Psyshock and can grab a Calm Mind against one of the most dangerous pokemon in the tier (Nidoqueen). Uxie is also an awesome weather setter thanks to unparalleled bulk, which also makes it a solid candidate for dual screens. Hell, it even learns Heal Bell if you want to use a cleric that can come into Nidoqueen more consistently.

Also, Giga Drain speedy Uxie is pretty awesome to smash any Kabutops that thinks it can spin :) props to upstart for smashing me with that many times~

Ruiner of Alph

I let this run a little longer than a week, as the new round of awards starts tomorrow. Locking this for now as the current round comes to a close; expect a new Mon of the Week tomorrow ^.^

Best Poster: Molk - A solid summary of some of Uxie's best sets and a description of how it functions on the team
Most Creative: August - Cool original set with a detailed explanation of why and how it works

Ruiner of Alph

What better pick for Mon of the Week than our most recent drop, Stoutland? I expect you all to be trying this bad boy out, so let's here what sets and niches you're carving out for him! Be sure to include what he counters, what counters him, and what teammates you find work best alongside him ^.^

Hmm Stoutland is pretty awesome, I definitely think that the CB set is going to be the most popular. 100 base Attack along with Scrappy and a solid movepool means that it can hit a ton of stuff supereffectively and be able to spam Return without the worry of Rotom / Spiritomb coming in. The arrival of Stoutland also came quite conveniently, just as Cofag left the tier x)

Fire Fang is to 2hko Escavalier because otherwise TLC would be pissed~ Superpower smacks around Steelix pretty well, and Wild Charge is for Slowking. Overall, I think that Stoutland will make a good addition to RU, and surely it will not be anywhere close to broken with the reasonably popular Tangrowth being able to sponge pretty much everything that Stoutland can throw at it. Stoutland will fit into fast paced offensive teams very well, particularly teams with Smeargle that abuse entry hazards, because Stoutland won't lose momentum if the opposing team has a ghost due to Scrappy, and the ideal CB Stout switch ins (Rhydon, Steelix, Tangrowth) are all grounded and take Spikes damage

RU Co-Leader

Hmm Stoutland is pretty awesome, I definitely think that the CB set is going to be the most popular. 100 base Attack along with Scrappy and a solid movepool means that it can hit a ton of stuff supereffectively and be able to spam Return without the worry of Rotom / Spiritomb coming in. The arrival of Stoutland also came quite conveniently, just as Cofag left the tier x)

Fire Fang is to 2hko Escavalier because otherwise TLC would be pissed~ Superpower smacks around Steelix pretty well, and Wild Charge is for Slowking. Overall, I think that Stoutland will make a good addition to RU, and surely it will not be anywhere close to broken with the reasonably popular Tangrowth being able to sponge pretty much everything that Stoutland can throw at it. Stoutland will fit into fast paced offensive teams very well, particularly teams with Smeargle that abuse entry hazards, because Stoutland won't lose momentum if the opposing team has a ghost due to Scrappy, and the ideal CB Stout switch ins (Rhydon, Steelix, Tangrowth) are all grounded and take Spikes damage

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Scrappy Stoutland seems pretty decent, but i think that it might be a bit outclassed. Kangaskhan also has access to the ability, has an even stronger STAB move in double edge, good coverage in the form of earthquake and drain punch, higher speed, and similar stats. Hell it even has sucker punch to pick off faster opponents. I personally think stoutland will drop to NU after a little while, but it does have a little niche that might give it a niche in RU. This niche is intimidate, Stoutland has rather impressive bulk, sitting at 85/90/90, which is more than enough to make use of intimidate. Stoutland also has a good base 100 attack stat and usable 80 speed to work with, meaning it will probably be a decent offensive pivot. I think ill give a bulky pivot set a try a little later, and ill post my findings in a bit!